Stocks Ended Mixed after Touching Intraday Records

U.S. stocks ended mixed on Wednesday, giving up strong early gains, as investors weighed reports about the Chinese flu outbreak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 9.77 points, or 0.02%, to 29,186.27. The S&P 500 was up 0.96 points, or 0.03%, to 3,321.75. The Nasdaq Composite gained 12.96 points or 0.5%, to 9,383.77.

Oil futures fell on Wednesday to mark their lowest settlement in about seven weeks as fears of an oversupply of crude outweighed a disruption to Libyan production. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery fell $1.64, or 2.8%, to settle at $56.74 a barrel. March Brent crude lost $1.38, or 2.1%, to finish at $63.21 a barrel.